The Golden State Warriors are riding high right now, and everything seems to be going their way. They have two-time MVP Stephen Curry, who became the first person to receive the award unanimously this season. Klay Thompson, the other splash brother, is an All-Star and three-point shootout champion. Draymond Green is changing the game, making the “playmaking four” position one of the latest trends in the NBA. They also broke a record that was thought to be unbreakable when they won 73 games this season.
And, lest we forget, they hold a 2-0 series lead over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. Should the Warriors hang on to win, it will be their second consecutive title.
It’s understandable that the Warriors are feeling strong these days, but Klay Thompson opened up a can of worms when he said that his team would beat the Showtime Lakers. Then his dad, Mychal, who actually played for the Lakers during the Showtime era, agreed with his son in an interview with USA Today:
“Two things make me think they would beat us. Their defense — their team defense — is as good as ours was. They really play great team defense. And number two: 3-point shooting. We shot eight a game, they shoot eight a quarter,” he said. “If we played them, they would outscore us 50-16 in 3s. So do the math from there.”
Not to be outdone, Magic Johnson took to Twitter to chime in with his opinion:
I disagree with Mychal Thompson and his son Klay, my “Showtime” Lakers would beat the Warriors.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) June 7, 2016
While the Warriors defeating a legendary team like the Showtime Lakers may sound somewhat blasphemous, it’s actually an interesting thought. Magic Johnson and Stephen Curry would be an incredible matchup as Curry wouldn’t be able to handle Magic’s size, but it’s also hard to envision Magic preventing Curry from bombing threes. Byron Scott and Klay Thompson would be a fun contest, as would Draymond Green and James Worthy. Of course, the Warriors would have no answer for Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, but perhaps the Warriors’ speed would make up for the Lakers’ advantage in the post.
While we will never truly know which team would win if they played each other (unless we gain access to a DeLorean), it’s still fun to speculate. The only thing we can say with any certainty is that it would be one heck of a fun game to watch.